Disclaimer: Same as chapter 1

A/N: So here's the second chapter. I was a little nervous about putting this up as I've never written Missouri at any great length before and because I've only seen her in one episode of the show it's been difficult for me to get a handle on how she speaks, so apologies if the dialogue doesn't seem right. I hope you enjoy it anyway. Thank you to everyone who has been reading so far and an extra thank you to enid18 - I really appreciate you leaving a review as I love to hear what people think of my stuff.

Chapter 2 – The Truth About Evie

They arrived on Missouri's porch late the following evening. Evie was getting tired and, judging by the way she hid behind Dean's legs when he rang the bell, was not particularly keen on meeting anyone new. Considering who she was about to meet, Dean could sympathise.

Soon approaching footsteps could be heard from inside the house and then Missouri was standing in front of them.

"Sam, Dean it's good to see you again. Come on in."

Sam went first but when Dean made to follow he nearly fell on his face. Evie was holding on to his right leg for all she was worth and clearly had no intention of moving.

Dean knelt down and twisted to face his daughter. "Come on Evie, it's too cold to hang around out here."

Evie's only response was to release his leg in favour of his waist. Figuring they could be on the porch all night if he kept trying to talk her into obedience Dean lifted her up and carried her inside.

"She's had a long day." He explained to Missouri. "Sam, maybe we should find somewhere to stay and come back tomorrow. I think Evie needs to go to bed."

Sam opened his mouth to reply but Missouri got in first. "You will do no such thing. You're not taking that child to some dive no tell motel. You're all staying here and that's that. Now, y'all had something to eat?"

"We stopped at a diner a couple of hours back. Are you sure you want us all staying here? I mean, I know I'm not your favourite person…" Dean trailed off at the look Missouri was giving him.

"I'll show you the spare room."

With that Missouri turned and lead the way upstairs.

***

Once Evie had been put to bed Sam and Dean joined Missouri in her living room.

"Now, I believe you wanted to ask me something about Evelyn?"

Dean wondered why Missouri was asking. He'd been thinking about it ever since arriving; surely she'd heard him? She'd certainly been able to hear everything he was thinking the last time he'd seen her.

"Evie seems to have some…strange…abilities. A week ago we were sitting in front of the fire at Bobby's and she made pictures appear in the flames. Last night she made one of her toys float across the room. How is she able to do that?" Dean tensed, unsure if he wanted to hear her answer.

"Well, I can't say that surprises me, I knew from the moment I laid eyes on her that she had power. Dean, I think your little girl is a mage."

Dean felt as though he'd just swallowed a large rock.

"No…she can't be…she's too young…and wouldn't we have seen her performing the rituals?" Sam spoke the words Dean couldn't bear to say, shock written all over his face and coming out in his voice.

"What are you talking about boy?"

Confusion now mingled with the shock. "Well isn't mage another word for witch?"

Missouri shook her head. "No. Mages are born with their power and don't need any special words or rituals to tap into it. Some go through their entire lives never knowing they have it. Evie's power would be relatively weak now but it will get stronger as she grows."

Dean hadn't felt so relieved since finding that Sam was unharmed after his encounter with a shtriga so many years ago.

"So is being a mage hereditary or just random?"

"It's hard to tell. Like I said, some people don't even know they are mages."

Dean nodded and fell silent, trying to take all this in. His daughter, a mage? If she'd been Sammy's daughter it would have made more sense. Although…Sam's abilities hadn't kicked in until he was twenty two and Missouri had never said anything about mages when she met him…maybe it wasn't the same thing. Then a horrible thought occurred to him.

"What if she does something in public? How the hell are we going to explain it?"

Missouri rolled her eyes. "Relax Dean, she probably won't do anything in public…well, not yet anyway. To use her powers Evie needs a high level of concentration. I doubt she'll be able to achieve that out in public with so many distractions, not at her age. Oh, by the way – no, Sam is not a mage. I don't know how he comes by his abilities but trust me, I would know if he was a mage."

Sam looked at Dean pointedly.

"Well, you have powers, Evie has powers, neither of you are witches…it was a perfectly reasonable question!"

***

Later that night Dean tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Finally he got up and went downstairs, thinking that maybe a glass of water would help. When he walked into the kitchen to find Missouri there drinking something out of a mug he immediately regretted acting on the idea.

"Dean, I believe I've told you before to stop using language like that in my house. I hope you've been holding your tongue in front of that child."

"Of course I…" Dean snapped, only to trail off horrified. "She can't read my mind can she?"

"I doubt it. I think you'd have noticed if she was using words that would make a sailor blush."

"Good." Dean wasn't as concerned about the language Evie might pick up from listening to his thoughts as he was about what she might find out.

Missouri sighed. "You need to tell her Dean. Evie may find it difficult at first but she'll forgive you in time."

"Tell Evie what?"

Missouri looked at Dean like he was a total moron. Truth be told, it was a stupid question. Dean was ninety nine percent sure that he knew what she was talking about.

"Tell her that you're her father."

"I haven't been there for her Missouri. How can I expect her to forgive me for that?"

Missouri snorted. "You're being ridiculous and you know it." She opened a cupboard, pulled out a glass and offered it to Dean. "Now why don't you get that water you wanted and go back to bed?"

***

"Wake up!"

Thump.

"Wake up!"

Thump.

"Wake up!"

Dean vaguely wondered why Evie bothered using words. He would have had to have been dead not to be roused by her jumping on his back. It would have been nice to have been still asleep at six am but the grin on Evie's face indicated that she was going to have a happy morning at least and that more than made up for the rude awakening. He swivelled around and grabbed her.

"Jump on me will you? Jump on me?" Dean growled at Evie in mock annoyance. "You know I'm going to have to tickle you for that!" And that is exactly what he did.

Between Evie's shrill giggling and Dean's growls it would have been surprising if Sam had stayed asleep.

"Don't you two know what time it is?" He asked, staring at them incredulously.

"Oh good, you're awake. I thought I was going to have to send Evie over there."

"Dean, it's ten past six in the morning. Do you really think Missouri wants to be woken up at this hour?"

That sobered Dean up immediately. "Sammy's right Evie. We don't want to wake up Missouri or she'll be cranky. How about I read you a story?"

"Can we look at Mummy's photos?"

"I don't know if we've got any with us. If you get dressed we can go have a look in the car."

"You have to get dressed too, can't go outside in your pj's."

***

Apparently Missouri had also risen with the birds. The first thing Dean noticed on getting downstairs was that he could smell coffee. He immediately changed course, heading directly for the kitchen.

The coffee maker was humming and Missouri was busy stirring something that looked like pancake mix.

I could kiss you. Dean thought, biting back a curse as he remembered too late that his thoughts were not private here.

"Please don't. A simple thanks will be fine." Missouri told him, amusement evident in her tone. "And what have I told you about your language?"

Dean groaned. "Isn't it too early to be arguing? By the way, I hope we didn't wake you."

"Lucky for you I was already awake. They must have heard all that carry on in Iceland! Now, if you'll take over here, I was hoping Evie might help me find my cat." She turned to Evie, "He's hiding in the back yard. Will you help me?"

Evie nodded. "I like cats." She seemed to have completely forgotten that they had been going to look at photos.

"Good." Missouri turned back to Dean and pointed at a cupboard behind him. "You'll find the frypan in there."

"Ok. I hope you didn't want these to be edible."

"No, I expect them to be edible. Don't talk yourself down, I know you can cook."

"I know I wasn't thinking about it."

"Maybe not, but according to Bobby you're not bad at it."

"Compared to Sam maybe, but he could burn water."

"So I've heard. Come on Evie, Boots needs his breakfast."

***

The pancakes actually turned out quite nicely, much to Dean's surprise. He decided it must have been something to do with what Missouri had put in the mixture rather than anything whatsoever to do with his barely existent cooking skills. It was a relief really as he hadn't wanted to even think about how Missouri might react if he cremated their breakfast.

Boots had been a big hit with Evie, and remarkably tolerant of her unending attentions. He was the perfect distraction for her while Dean, Sam and Missouri discussed what to do about her abilities.

"So, picking up where we left off last night, and assuming that you're right and Evie is a mage, where do we go from here?" Dean asked.

"If I was you I'd take her to Moira Lucas. She'll know what to do. She's a mage herself and she's dealt with quite a few young mages in her time. She needs to learn control for a start."

"Ok, so where do we find this woman?"

"Moira lives with her husband outside Angaston in Wisconsin. I have a map somewhere, and her phone number. Make sure you call before you turn up on her doorstep. She doesn't like surprises and she could probably turn you into a radish if she had a mind to."

"Would it be safe to let Dean in the same room with her then?" Sam piped up.

"Ha, ha very funny Sam." Dean muttered sourly.

"Moira can't read minds so as long as he keeps his mouth shut he should be fine."

Missouri paused for a moment.

"On a more serious note, I know I said last night that Evie probably wouldn't do anything in public but she's a lot stronger than I thought. When we were looking for Boots earlier she used magic to find him. It wasn't obvious – without my own gifts I probably wouldn't have known and I don't think Evie realised she was doing it – but even so, it's not something to take lightly."

Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated :)